


Because…

by pepi



Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Artist Steve Rogers, M/M, Musician Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-31
Updated: 2015-03-31
Packaged: 2018-03-20 13:56:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3652944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pepi/pseuds/pepi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is hardly scraping by on a minimum wage and the occasional commission for some of his art work. When he is this close to giving up his dream of living from his art, a chance meeting with an old acquaintance somehow gives him a new boost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because…

**Author's Note:**

> English is not my first language and this has never seen a beta. Sorry!

People. So many people. Everyone busy, trying to get from one place to another. They all seemed to have somewhere to be, some kind of goal to reach. And here Steve was, absolutely lost. Not lost in the Subway Station or the City, but lost in his life. With a sigh he started walking again towards the exit, still looking at people’s faces. For what? To see if they were happy… To see if maybe those people who seemed to have their life together actually were happy. Because, Steve sure as hell wasn’t. Skinny, sickly and hardly scraping by on a minimum wage and the occasional commission for some of his art work. But maybe this would change soon…

“Steve?”  
Confused Steve looked around, searching for the source of the voice calling out his name. When he found it, he almost tripped over his own feet. There was a gorgeous man looking at him. Long brown hair in a bun, icy grey eyes and a body that just screamed to be hugged by. And he was looking at Steve, smiling. But Steve had no idea who that guy was or why he would know Steve’s name.  
“Yes…?”  
The guy’s smile fell a bit, disappointed.  
“Steve. It’s me. Bucky.”  
Holy shit!   
“Bucky…? Oh my god. Hey. How are you?”  
Bucky, well Bucky had changed. They went to school together but never really saw eye to eye. Different interests, different friends and a lot of different opinions. More often than not the two could be found making snarky comments at each other. They didn’t hate each other, but they also weren’t friends. And Steve never wasted a thought on the guy after school was over. But now, now Steve wasn’t so sure if that may have been a mistake. It wasn’t just that Bucky somehow turned out to be really handsome, but also… He didn’t seem so stuck up anymore. Gone was the perfectly cut and styled hair and the expensive clothes. Instead his hair looked like he had just put it in a bun after rolling out of his bed and his clothes looked old and worn and comfortable.  
“I’m doing okay. How are you? What brings you to this part of New York?”  
Now that Steve remembered him, his smile was back.  
“Oh, I had an Interview at an art gallery to see if they want to maybe use some of my pieces for their next exhibition.”  
Bucky’s smile was now threatening to break his face.  
“So you stuck with your art? Awesome. I’m sure they will want your art. If you are still as good as you were during high school they would be stupid to not want you.”  
Steve just stared at him. Bucky remembered his art? Bucky thought his art was good? But Bucky always made fun of his art…  
“Well, fingers crossed. It’s not my first interview and so far I only ever got small galleries to use my art. And I somehow need to make a living…”  
Bucky let out a sigh.  
“Tell me about it. I just came from my 6th audition this month. And if I don’t get this job, I will probably have to move out of my flat and search for a new, even cheaper one…”  
At first Steve was confused, but then he saw the guitar bag on Bucky’s shoulder.  
“You… play guitar?”  
He had not known that about Bucky while they were in school. He always thought Bucky despised any kind of art.  
“Yes. Had some kind of life changing epiphany after my first year at collage and decided to just… I don’t know, go for it?”  
He blushed at that and Steve couldn’t stop himself from finding it weirdly adorable.  
“Oh man, why do we do this to ourselves Bucky? Why not just take some job and live a kinda secure life? Why all this hardship?”  
Bucky raised an eyebrow at Steve and looked at him like he wanted to ask ‘really?’.  
“Because, Steve, because of the art. Because of the music. Because it’s wonderful and we love it!”  
Steve couldn’t stop the smile spreading on his face. No one, not even his best friends, really ever understood that. It was hard, yes, but he loved it.  
“Yes. Exactly. Thanks Bucky. I kinda needed to hear that today.”  
Bucky just smiled at him in response before he looked at his watch.  
“Sorry, have to run. It was really nice seeing you!”  
And to Steve’s complete surprise, Bucky took a step closer to Steve and hugged him. Before he knew what he was doing, Steve hugged him back. With one last smile, Bucky disappeared into the mass of people with goals. And Steve also smiled as he made his way home. Because he was happy. He didn’t care about all those people with their lives together. He was happy with his mess of a life.

xxx

When Steve arrived home and opened his laptop, he had a friend request from Bucky on facebook. And if he spent way too much time looking at Bucky’s pictures and posts, nobody had to know about it.

xxx

The gallery called him two days later, telling him that they loved his work and wanted to commission some pieces for the next exhibition. After calling his friends and his mom, he opened facebook and typed out one short message.

“Hey Bucky,  
I just got a call. My art will be part of the next exhibition at the Free:Dom gallery. Thanks again for the little pep talk the other day.  
Steve”

Not even five minutes later, he got a replay.

“Hey Steve,  
That’s amazing! And I got the gig! Steady income here I come! :)  
How about a coffee to celebrate?  
Bucky”

Steve never in his life typed out a “Yes” that fast.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Comments (good and bad!) and Kudos are welcome.


End file.
